


Considerations

by Cloudnine101



Series: the lightning strike [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Family, Insecurity, M/M, Pining, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 08:52:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5284469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudnine101/pseuds/Cloudnine101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>They don't seem to remember that Harrison can fall in love, too.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Considerations

They don't seem to remember that Harrison can fall in love, too. None of them recognise the fact. He's under control. He's calm. And naturally, because of those things, he can't feel anything - can't understand that ache that runs beneath the skin, the need to be comforted, to be told that everything will be alright.

(Harrison Wells was born in a small town in a small state. He was charming and idealistic, in his youth. He wanted to go to the moon.)

Harrison turns to himself for that duty, now. He has no one else. Every morning, he stares himself down in the mirror, and says that he will solve this. He will, of course. Harrison will sort it. He will find his daughter, and he will not tell anybody anything about what he needs. Nothing.

(As Harrison grew, he became quieter. He curled into himself. He wasn't interested in being like his father - and because of that, it was decided that he wasn't anyone at all.)

And now here he is - Barry, the Flash, the boy who can run faster than anybody else - leaning up against Harrison's desk with his hands in his pockets and his eyes downcast. He's trying for nonchalance, Harrison knows. It won't work.

(He learned. He buried himself in books and puzzles to try and deny what he felt - the way that every time a handsome man walked by he'd find himself looking up and staring.)

 _You still see me as him_ , Harrison thinks, and he wants to scream it out - to scream that he is not, and never will be, Eobard Thawne. He is not a murderer. He does not intend to hurt. He never wanted any of this. He is desperate, but he is not a monster. Never that. All he's ever wanted is a better life for his child - and better lives for those who grew up like him, floundering in the certainty that they will never be good enough.

(He left his hometown at fourteen, catching a bus to the city, and from there to a motel. Harrison got a job at a book-store by happy coincidence, and met his wife beneath its roof three years later.)

"Barry," Harrison says, and smiles. "What can I do for you?"

(They were married in a brief ceremony, hurrying through their vows. They are cucumber sandwiches, and smiled at one another all the while. Harrison had never felt so warm.)

Barry's eyes meet his - and they are, truly, spectacular. Harrison has always admired beauty - from a distance, he's attempted to figure out what makes certain combinations of features so appealing. It may be Barry's innocence - the fact that, for all of his bravado, he needs help, too. That's always been a comfort.

(Tess died in a car accident. Harrison was behind the wheel. Their three-year-old daughter slept in the back-seat.)

"You can tell me why you keep watching me," Barry says.

(After that, Harrison shut the store, and turned to research. He'd always had a certain fascination with Physics, and now here it was, ready and waiting and willing in a way that people often weren't.)

Harrison shrugs, and turns back to his bench. "You interest me," he settles upon. "Your abilities are - unprecedented."

(Jesse was - and is - his daughter's name. She graduated high school at thirteen, and university two years later. Harrison had been so very proud - they'd gone out for milkshakes after the graduation ceremony. It was just the two of them, sitting in the corner of the diner booth.)

Barry hunches up a little further beneath that jacket of his. "Thanks," he says. "But I thought that - maybe - there was something...I don't know. I don't know. Just - just ignore me. I'm going. Bye - uh - "

(Jesse has always been a lot like her mother. She's smart - funny and rational, sarcastic and witty. Harrison's never been able to quip very well. Sometimes, she tells him that he'd make a terrible villain.)

"Harrison."

Barry freezes. His shoulders tense. "Not Dr Wells?" he asks.

(Only now, Harrison has to make a decision. He has to make a choice. He has to get her back - he has to.)

Harrison shakes his head. "That was Thawne's alias. You don't have to use it for me." Bringing a hand to Barry's wrist, he taps once - just enough to show a common purpose, but not enough to embarrass or cause discomfort.

(He doesn't know if he could stand it if he went too far for her forgiveness. Jesse has always been an open, smiling soul.)

"Thanks," Barry repeats, voice a little numb. His eyes have fluttered shut.

(He doesn't know he could forgive himself, if anything happened to Barry.)

Harrison spins around. He unclenches his fisted hands.

(The thought terrifies him.)

Barry is gone. Harrison places down the pliers, and regulates his breathing. He leaves half an hour later, and arrives home with the distinct sensation that he is being watched. 


End file.
